Ethereal glow
by Anxious Bunny
Summary: Amelia Campbell had always been in the backgrounds and she'd been content like that, minding her own business. But after some time her oddities become a point of interest to the cryptic Cullen family. Who exactly was this awkward girl and why were there so many bizarre things happening around her? And what is with that knowing look in her eyes? Who-, no, What is she?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello strangers! **

**This is my very first published story so I hope you guys will enjoy it. This story takes place about two years before the actual story-line of Twilight (so two years before Bella returns to Forks) and it will mostly be told from my oc's point of view. It is my intention to make it oc X Edward Cullen but it**_ will_** take a while before it gets to that. Actually, It will most likely take a while before my oc meets any of the main characters. So be warned!**

**The canon characters will probably be altered a bit since i'll be using my own interpretation of their characters for this story, so also beware for that. Twilight belong the the author: Stephenie Meyer. Amelia Campbell and the other oc's in this story belong to me! **

**Lastly, I would like to mention that I plan to make the supernatural aspects much more creepy than in the original story. There will be no disco ball vampires in here, sorry if this bothers you. I also plan to make it a bit gory in later chapters. ****There _might_ be some risque scenes in the future *wink wink* though writing that would be a first for me too, so it would really depend on whether or not i'm comfortable with that later on.**

**Well I believe that's it for my introduction. Enjoy reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 1. The obscured soul**

The bus ride to high school was just as irritable as the one that went to middle school. I wasn't quite sure why I had expected the experience to be any different. The buses were the same as the ones from the year before and the kids that stepped on were the exact same too. And yet, some part of me had been hopeful. I think it had something to do with the destination that somehow made me expect something different from my peers, something… Less loud?

Shrieks and laughter bounced of the metal frame of the bus as we drove over another pothole in the road.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled the small anthology of Emily Dickinson closer to my face as a last, admittedly pathetic, attempt to block out my surroundings. I never liked to ride the bus to school. The lighting wasn't great, the benches were usually oddly damp and it was _always _crowded with teenagers who just never seemed to grasp the meaning of an inside voice.

"-ister said that Mr. Varner is the absolute worst! He's been teaching sinc-"

"-een texting me. But I don't think I want to start anything with him agai-"

"- to go before we have another break from scho-"

There was literally _no_ reason for any of them to be this hyped up. None.

It was 07:30 in the _morning_.

_On a_ _Thursday_.

A pencil case suddenly shot through the air and another round of hollers came loudly from the back of the bus.

I groaned.

Sinking a bit further in my seat, I sighed tiredly and mindlessly rubbed my forefinger smoothly over the hard cover of my book. Katie Marshall, who had sat next to me in order to continue her conversation with a classmate, moved away to scooch into a bench a few seats over. The seat next to me stayed empty for the rest of the ride.

With ten minutes left to spare, the school bus finally reached the bus stop near high school building. The students spilled out quickly and, as expected, got stuck on their way out. I stayed seated and took my time to put away my things, then got out once the line started moving again. Stepping out into the rain, I hurriedly pulled up the hood of my parka and raced after the other students.

I have never understood why the high school had been built like this.

It just wasn't _at all_ practical.

The school was basically a bunch of lose buildings lumped together. All of them maroon-bricked with white squared windows and dark colored rooftops. The particular color scheme was meant to show people that it was all part of the same institution. And normally, I would appreciate such dedication to consistency.

However, I just couldn't fathom the reason behind the separate buildings. The institution was situated in rainy all year 'round _Forks_. And it had been situated here since _1972_. That's approximately forty years of completely drenched students sloshing around in the hallways. _Why, the actually living hell, _did they build the school like this? What was the added value? _Why _did nobody ever bother to fix it?

"Ames, just let it go," Austin grumbled tiredly. "they're not gonna do anything 'bout it anyway."

"It just doesn't make any sense…" I muttered back.

"They probably couldn't fit it properly if they kept it all attached," Ben told us from his desk in front of our, "With the slope coming in from the back and all."

I opened my mouth to insist that that still didn't justify why they never bothered to install covered pathways in between the buildings, but anything I would have said stopped dead the moment Mr. Davis walked into the classroom.

Ben glanced over his shoulder, took notice of Mr. Davis and instantly moved his chair around so he could face the front of the classroom. Austin, in the mean time, groaned miserably from next to me.

"No need for such dramatics, Mr. Marks." Came the immediate warning from the balding man.

"Sorry, Mr. Davis…" Austin replied monotonously.

Mr. Davis hadn't even bothered to look over in our direction as this exchange took place and I felt a bit amazed at Mr. Davis for, not only remembering Austin's name after only three days, but for recognizing him from his pitiful groans alone.

"Alright class, we are just going to pick up where we left off yesterday, so let's start off by doing a short recap. Who can tell me when the Bronze Ag-"

'But, then again… Didn't Mr. Davis live in the same street as Ben and Austin?' I mused amusingly as I opened up my notebook to go over my notes from the day before.

The other morning classes passed without a hitch and soon enough it was time for lunch. When I had first noticed that I had gym during the fourth period, I had been completely bummed out. But after a couple of days, I could see the merits of it. Coach Clapp was the kind of gym teacher who didn't really mind students trickling in a bit later into his class _but_ he did insist on the students staying in the sport hall until the bell rang. This meant that the dressing was done during the beginning of our lunch break. Most of the girls hurriedly redress so that they could catch as much of their free time as possible but I thought that was rather silly. Why bother hurrying to get to an overcrowded cafeteria when I could have a moment alone in a near empty changing room?

So, having taken my time to change out of my gym uniform and into my normal clothes, I decided to take a moment to myself and listened to a few numbers on my mp3. Then, once I thought that it was about time to get something to eat, I started to make my way to the cafeteria.

It was only drizzling when I left the building housing the sports hall. Which I honestly thought was great since it meant that I didn't need to rush over to the main building to keep dry. Slowing my pace to a leisure stroll, I noticed a few other kids walking around the ground but I decidedly ignored them. I took in a long deep breath of the wet air and reveled in the quiet surrounding me.

Then, all too soon, my moment of peace came to an end.

Pushing open the heavy doors of the cafeteria, I was immediately assaulted by the loud hum of the teenage crowd and a compressing warmth which seemed to slither its way over my face and down my shirt. I instantly felt sweaty and gross.

Search around the tables, I noticed Ben sitting with some of the more popular kids from my year and decided against joining him for lunch.

I didn't necessary dislike any of those kids; most of them were actually rather nice. But I just didn't feel all that comfortable sitting with a tight-knitted group like that.

In the past, I had, on a few occasions, joined them at their lunch table and, at times, I even got invited to come along when they planned an outing or something familiar. And those times were fun, at first. But eventually they just sort of move back into their own clusters. And then, just like that, anyone who wasn't a part of their original group was left out. Which honestly kind of suck, but on the other hand, I couldn't exactly hate them for doing it either because they never actually seemed to do any of that on purpose.

However, that still didn't mean that I liked it happening to me. So when possible, I tended to avoid groups like that. Even if it meant that sometimes I had to eat lunch by myself.

I looked over the cafeteria once more and found my sister sitting with her friends at what I was starting to realize was their usual lunch table. My sister, Nicole, was about two years older than me and a junior. She got into the cheering squad last year and had been absolutely over the moon ever since.

She told me her popularity had shot straight up since she became friends with all the other cheerleaders. Though I never really understood what had kept her from making friends with them in the past. As far as I knew she could make friends with practically anyone. She was just kind of like that. She attracted people. The first time Nicole mentioned her popularity status to me I had actually been rather startled. I didn't think she'd care about something as silly as that and yet, there she was. Stressing over the popular girls and whether or not they liked her. I never believe she had anything to worry about though and evidently she didn't, she got in no problem.

Remembering that I still needed to ask her about dinner, I adjusted my bag onto my shoulder and started to make my way over to her table.

"Nic? Hey." I greeted her and realized a second to late, that I quite tactlessly interrupted the conversation she was having with her classmates. They all turned to look at me and I once again felt an uncomfortable warmth creep onto my face. Though this time I knew it wasn't the temperature of the room that made it happen.

"Hey Amelia."

"Hey."

Nicole smiled up at me, "Hey sis. What's up?"

"Hey guys, "I greeted back awkwardly, "So uhm, I just wanted to know if you were eating home tonight?"

"You're cooking again?" Nicole asked and I nodded.

She seemed to ponder it over for a bit, "I'm not sure if I'm going to be home on time for dinner, so I guess I might just eat out after work…"

"Want me to leave you something in case you do make it on time?" I asked despite already knowing the answer would be yes.

"Could you? That would be great!"

"Yeah sure, okay." I uncomfortable shifted from one leg to the other and felt like I had overstayed my welcome.

"Guess I'll see you later then." I said eventually and scurried away. I heard Nicole and some of her friends say their own goodbyes after me.

I decided against sitting down at an empty table and instead just made my way out of the cafeteria. I didn't really feel like being in the middle of a crowd right now. So I settled for stalking around the almost empty hallways.

I eventually walked passed my locker and picked up my books for the last two classes of the day, then took a sandwich from my lunch bag and ate it as I made my way to building 3.

Mr. Mason, the high schools English Literature teacher, was by far my favorite teacher in this school. I liked how he had this animated way of talking, it made his stories come to life and Mr. Mason himself seems to appreciate having at least one student with an interest for the written word.

"Early again, Mrs. Campbell?" He asked me the moment I walked through the door. He didn't seem upset about it, but I offered him an apologetic smile none the less.

"Yeah, sorry." I let out a nervous chuckle, "The cafeteria tends to be a bit overwhelming sometimes… Too many people."

Mr. Mason hummed his understanding and then waved one hand vaguely over to the desks. "Go ahead and sit at your desk, do some reading or something. Just let me finish my lunch in peace, please. We'll be starting the lesson in a few minutes."

Without another word, I went to hang up my parka and walked over to my desk at the front of the classroom. Then sat down and took my anthology of Emily Dickinson out of my bag.

Mr. Mason was_ definitely_ my favorite teacher.

At the end of the school day, I once again passed by my locker to collect my homework for the evening. Feeling relieved to finally be let off, I decided to make the most of it and walk on home instead of taking the bus. Once I stepped out the school building, I was happy to note that the weather had finally decided to clear up after nearly a week of none stop rain.

"Hey, Ames!"

Turning around at the calling of my name, I stopped walking and let Ben and Austin catch up to me. "Hey, what's up?"

"Wanna come over to watch '_Eight Legged Freaks' _at Austin's house?" Ben asked, "He rented it last week."

""Haven't been able to watch it myself, though." Austin added, "Since mom doesn't want Lucas to see it. But he's at a friend's house today, so as long as we can finish it before dinner we should be good."

"Oh, sounds great! But I can't." I sent them an apologetic look, "I'm on cooking duties tonight since mom and dad are working late."

"Aw, that sucks Ames… You don't mind if we go ahead and watch it anyway, do you? I need to return it tomorrow..."

"Austin." Ben reproached him but I laughed.

"That's fine! But you guys have to tell me tomorrow if it's any good or not. Might save me a few hours that I'm never gonna get back."

"Wha- it's not going to be bad!" Was Austin immediately response and Ben snickered, "It's about a gigantic spider invasion! How could that not be awesome?!"

Letting that rhetorical question go unanswered, I laughing again and split off from the boys.

Going down the side of a winding road, I thought about taking out my mp3 again so I could listen to some more music while walking, but after a moment of consideration I decided against it. Having been forced to spend the past seven hours in a flood of bodies had started to grate on my nerves. So as it was, having any kind of music blasted in my ears probably wouldn't do me much good.

Instead, I simple settled on watching my surrounding as it passed. The town of Forks had the capability to be such a lovely place if one only took the time to look for it. The town was completely enclosed by vibrant green nature, so no matter where you were in town there were always some trees in your immediate vision. They stood, along with some shrubs, in between the houses in the suburban areas and you could even see them peeking out over the buildings on main street. I loved how close nature was in this place.

There were never this many trees in Crooks. In Crooks we were pretty much surrounded by flat land, usually just a field of dirt or growing crops. But it was _bare_ compared to Forks. Even the houses there were terrible. Or at least, I thought so. Back in Crooks there were barely any houses raised above ground level, they were also neatly spaced apart and I couldn't even remember one lawn or garden that wasn't meticulously well-kept. It was seriously quite terrible. It always made me feel like I lived in a senior citizen safety zone.

Forks wasn't anything like that. Here, most of the houses were built somewhere at the end of the last century and the owners seem to prefer to preserve that aged look. Some people here did actually keep their lawns, though I never quite understood why they did that because absolutely nobody seemed to be bothered with the forest creeping into their backyards. Nature was everywhere here and everything was alive. And yes, sure, some buildings were a bit worn down. But I liked it. To me, it just made the town seem all the more charming. I adored this little sleeping town where the winds from the mountains were sometimes louder than the people that lived in it.

I had only two more blocks to go before I got home and my shoulders had long since started to ache from the weight of my bag. Still, I didn't regret my decision to walk home. There was only so much social interaction that I could take in a day and today that bar had already been particularly low the moment I woke up.

Suddenly a familiar croak called for attention.

I stopped walking to look around and quickly caught sight of a black bird perching on the fence a few feet away.

"Hello Edgar," I greeted him softly, "It has been a while."

The raven croaked back and cocked his head at me.

I smiled and started walking again.

"I started school again, a different one this time. But I still share my classes with the same kids, so I guess nothing really changed in that aspect. " I told him absently, "Aaron left for college last Sunday but he should be back again tomorrow. Mom was in tears when he left, I'm not sure why… It isn't exactly like he moved to the other side of the state. He's only an hour drive away. He rented a room up in Port Angeles and dad has lunch with him every now and again since they're in the same city. "

The fluttering of wings filled my left ear as Edgar took a seat on my shoulder.

"He promised to come home over the weekends but I think that has more to do with his laundry basket that with him actually missing us." I snorted, already envisioning my brother coming home carrying his bed sheet as a knapsack, which would of course be completely filled with his dirty clothes.

"Austin and Ben still want to hanging out with me," I went on quietly and eyed the bird on my shoulder. "So your idea worked out quite well. Thank you for that." Edgar croak again and pecked gently at my ear, I giggled.

"They are watching a movie together at Austin's house and they invited me to come along after school. It's too bad that I couldn't join them though… It seems that, now that Aaron has moved out, his chores are added onto mine. Which I guess isn't actually all that bad. I mean, it mostly means that I'll be the one responsible for dinner every now and then. I have to vacuum clean upstairs now too... but that's only once a week so it isn't really that much of a bother. It actually fairer now, isn't it? I'm the only one at home without a job, so I should at least do some more chores than the others at home." I trailed off, "Oh, speaking of, mom and dad are both working late and Nicole shouldn't be getting home until later tonight. So you can come inside the house if you'd like? I'm sure we have something edible in the pantry for you."

Edgar croaked again and took off from my shoulder. He glided over to a nearby tree and placed himself onto one of the lower branches. A wind picked up behind me and it messed with my hair as it swept after the black bird. Edgar once again took off to another tree, this one on the edge of the forest, perched on it and crowed loudly at me.

I understood, "I'll come tonight." I promised him.

Then, seemingly satisfied, Edgar flew off into the woods and disappeared.

I signed and went on my way.

Taking another turn to the left and crossing the street diagonally after checking for cars, I finally got to my house and quickly skipped up the porch. I took my keys out of my pocket and opened the front door with a heavy push and a groan.

I left my parka on the coat rack and went into the kitchen, then dumped my school bag on one of the chairs by the dinner table. I turned on the radio and left it on a station which seemed to repeat '_me against the music_' every ten or so minutes. I danced around the kitchen as I collected the necessities for spaghetti and shimmied in place as I cut up the vegetables. I stopped wiggling when I nearly cut off my right thumb. I dramatically sang into my wooden spoon as '_bring me to life_' came on the radio, then started laughing at myself for acting like an idiot and getting tomato sauce in my hair.

The spaghetti was finished within an hour and I left it on the stove for when I grew hungry. I begrudgingly turned the volume of the radio down and sat at the dinner table to start on my calculus homework. I never liked calculus or math for that matter. But as long as I paid attention in class and religiously did my homework, I should, in the very least, manage get a passing grades.

I ate dinner around six and move upstairs once I finished. I was just about to start on the last assignment of my Spanish homework when mom came home and called up the stairs to announce her presence. Then deciding to amuse her a bit, I went down the stairs and sat with her as she ate her dinner.

"-ostly behind the phone today. I was actually supposed to have a meeting with the Bennett's but they called off at the last moment." Mom told me in between bites, "I did have a meeting this morning but that didn't go that well either. Since Mrs. Patel couldn't speak English that well, her husband decided to come along to act as a translator but he seemed to have some trouble with it too. "

"That's too bad," I said, feeling rather bad for the couple with difficulty to attain the proper medical care, "Did they get anything from the meeting?"

Mom pondered that a bit before she replied. "They seemed satisfied when they left… though to be honest, I think we should probably see to it that we get better translators around the hospital. That man of hers didn't seem to understand half of the words I said and I don't think that had anything to do with the language barrier."

I huffed at that and mom smiled wearily.

"And how was your day today?"

"World history and English literature were rather fun today, though nothing new there. I think we are about to finish up on the three-age system in world history, so we will probably get a pop quiz about that somewhere next week. " I lifted my leg up to my chest and leaned back into my chair to get more comfortable.

"Calculus was terrible-" Mom chuckled, "-but I guess I did quite alright during class. Spanish and gym weren't any different from normal and in biology we used the microscopes to look at flower stems, I guess that was pretty neat..."

Mom hummed and swallowed the food in her mouth, "And have you made any plans for the weekend yet?"

"I'd probably go for a hike and finish up my homework." I answered.

Mom gave me a look and I quickly added, "…And I'll see to it that I'll be making some human contact during the weekend? I believe Ben and Austin had rented a movie about giant spiders, so we might go and watch that?"

"Be sure to do that." Mom signed.

Mom had always been a bit worried about my lack of interest to socialize and would often encourage me to approach classmates or to take up their invitations to social events. And I guess, I could kind of see where she was coming from. Compared to Nicole, who made plenty of friends in the past five years since we moved here, I truly was some kind of asocial recluse.

But on the other hand, it also wasn't like I could help being the way I was. And a childish side of me wanted to tell her she was exaggerating. I _did _have friends. Not as many as my siblings, but I do have them. And there were plenty of people that I got along with; I just never felt the need to seek out their company.

I _liked_ doing things on my own. I liked reading and writing and sketching, though I could do better at that last one... I also liked to wander around the woods, sometimes I'd collect flowers and other plants to press into a book and other times I'd just listen to music as I walked. I liked to dance and to sing, but I couldn't imagine doing anything that embarrassing in front of other people.

I just liked doing things that were meant to be done alone.

I went back upstairs once mom finished her dinner and returned to my Spanish homework. I guess I could hold a so what decent conversation in the language. I understood it well but spoke it terrible. Mrs. Goff, my current Spanish teacher, was appalled when she first heard me say things in the language, she had probable gotten a look at my grades from middle school and thought I'd be one of the best from the freshmen class.

It was actually kind of funny to be honest, though at the time I found her gaping reaction rather embarrassing. I considered myself lucky that neither Ben nor Austin were in that class because there was no way they wouldn't have teased me about it.

Around nine I went back down stairs to get myself a snack and found that dad had gotten home without me noticing. I greeted him and he greeted me back before fixing his eyes back on the television, a game was on. Dad usually got tunnel vision when there was a game on. I didn't think it even mattered what sport was being practiced.

I finished up my homework while my parents got ready for bed and I absentmindedly tried to read through a few more pages of 'The Sea, The Sea' as I waited for my sister to come home. I had a hard time focusing on the words though; I was growing impatient for everyone to be asleep. I could count on one hand the times that Edgar had requested me to follow him. And maybe it was simple the effect of his presence, but wandering around the woods with Edgar always seemed to make things more… _exceptional_. Some thing's usually ended up changed. Small things. Things that normally tended to take a while to notice. But once you _did_ notice, then _everything_ suddenly shifts.

A slight smile formed on my lips as I thought back to the very first time that I had followed the bird with the messy tail, the memory alone seemed to pull me right back to the moment. I had been ten years old then and I'd only been living in Forks for a month or so. I had been _absolutely _enchanted by him. The sweet little jester.

The sound of the front door closing echoed through the quiet house and I knew Nicole had returned from her work. I signed glumly at the book in my hands, realizing that I hadn't read much more than four pages. I placed my bookmark in between the pages and gently place the book on my nightstand, then dimmed the lights and lay down under the blankets of my bed. It was cold under the sheets, something that on normal nights tended to bother me, but I actually preferred it for nights like these. It was easier to stay awake like this. I pretended to be asleep as I waited for the movement in the house to settle down.

My sister had taken a shower before going to bed and mom had seemingly decided to check up on me before she herself turned herself in. Mom and dad usually only checked up on my siblings and I if we happened to have our lights on later in the evening. Granted, we didn't really _have_ a bedtime anymore, but that didn't mean we weren't expected to go to sleep at a decent hour. Especially so on school nights.

My light had been off, so mom coming in to check up on me had been a bit unexpected. It was a good thing that I had decided on settling myself in my bed as I waited. Now mom had seen me sleeping_, _all safe and sound in my cold bed and there would be no reason for her or my dad to come check up on me during the rest of the night. I mentally patted myself on the back for taking the safe road.

I heard my door close with a soft click and opened my eyes. My room was casted in darkness. Turning on my side, I felt around on my nightstand and grabbed my cell phone. The screen lit up instantly and brightly, it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the light. I played '_Bounce_' since I couldn't listen to music without my earplugs, which I had left in the pocket of my parka in the hall downstairs.

I waited an hour or so more before I threw the covers off of me and rose from the bed. I was still dressed in the clothes of today to save myself the bother of redressing myself and risking getting caught sneaking out. I slowly tip toed my way to my closet and pulled out the old parka which I kept especially for situations as these. I put it on as quietly as I possibly could. Then took my hiking boots from under my bed and put those on too. I quickly checked the pockets of the parka and once I deemed myself ready, I quietly moved over to the window. I pulled the thick curtain aside to give myself enough room to climb onto the windowsill. I fingering the lock nervously before opening it with an unfortunate audible click, I winced at the sound and froze my movement.

Silence.

I signed quietly.

I gently pushed the window open and it went soundlessly. The sounds of leave rustling became more apparent without the glass blocking it from me, it exited me. I crawled out onto the slope of the roof then slowly shut the window behind me, keeping in mind to leave it unlocked for my return.

Scaling down the house went with practiced ease. Even with it being dark out, I still managed to find the right places to rest my feet and the hidden ridges to jam my fingers into. It was, however, still a difficult task to do in silence. The roof tiles loosely ticked and clacked with every step I took. And the rain pipe reverberation every time I had to readjust my footing.

My hands stung from the cold and the rough treatment as I got to the ground but that too was something I had gotten used to over the years. I'd much rather preferred aching fingers from holding on too tightly over a tumble from the roof. The last time that had happened I had luckily gotten away without any broken bones. I did, however, heavily bruise my entire right side though.

I shook off the memory with an actually shake of my head. I couldn't effort to drift off right now; I still needed to make it into the woods before I could count this breakout successful.

It was a clear night tonight, which in itself was a near unheard off occurrence in Forks. It didn't rain, no, but it seemed like a thin mist was slowly starting to form. The air was cold and wet, and I could feel tiny water drops starting to accumulate on my lashes. It was remotely easy to maneuver my way out of the backyard. The moon provided me with little light but it was evidently enough for me not to trip over any of the fold-able garden chairs or straying pieces of chopped wood. And once I reached the edge of the woods I grinned with glee at my success.

I followed my usually trail into the woods until I heard Edgar's sharp crows off in the distance, I left the familiar path to hike straight through the undergrowth. I followed the persisted calls nervously. I couldn't see all that well below the thick leave canopy of the trees as it blocked out most of the light. The forest was dark but not completely encased in it as it had been in my room. Light still shone through the trees at random intervals and each beam lightened up parts of the surrounding area. The tree trunks were practically black to Amelia and as only the leaves and a couple of the branches caught the light, it reflected a Sacramento green. The ferns and undergrowth on the forest floor shimmied in the cool winds and gleamed with the residual rain from earlier this morning. My legs dampened as I brushed past them. The thin mist illuminated the space in between the trees in a hazy light blue and blurred out my vision of distant areas.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, I caught sight of Edgar's wings. I signed out in relieve and the muscles in my shoulders relaxed.

Edgar settled himself on a moss covered rock formation nearby and hopped on on the spot. I chuckled at his silly act and made my way over to him. "Hello again, Edgar." I greeted him sweetly, my voice sounded much louder than it needed to be.

Edgar cawed again and moved closer. I went to pat his back but left my hand hanging in mid air as Edgar neared me even closer than I had expected. He was near my waist now and started plucking at the flap of my pocket. Confused yet not entirely unused to his antics, I helped him by release the buttons and opened the pocket for him. He immediately stuck his head in, wings beating to keep him in position; he came out a moment later holding a small ball of thick yarn in his beak. I tensed up at the sight of it.

"We're doing something dangerous tonight, then?" I asked shakily.

I took the yarn from Edgar's beak and he left me to it, taking off into the sky. I swallowed heavily as I stared down at the olive green yarn in my hands. I twisting and pulling it around until I ended up with a series of the tight ring knots. I threw the string over my shoulder, wearing it like a sash and connected the loose ends with a secure knot then glanced over at Edgar. He had stared at me while I worked. Keeping quiet, waiting patiently until I was done. I hardened my eyes and nodded at him.

Edgar let out a sharp crow and flew high up into the trees; now and then I caught sight of his black form glide through the pale blue glow of the moon. I hurried after him. If Edgar's behavior was anything to go by, then tonight there wasn't any time to waste. I wanted to berate myself for taking so long to get out of the house but knew I couldn't have done so without alarming my family of my intentions. I could only hope that it hadn't affected the outcome of this endeavor, whatever it may be.

Edgar led me to the far South of Forks, which surprised me because he actually didn't seem to lead me deeper into the woods but rather around the edge of it. He made me cross the 101 highway, where I had to carefully listening for approaching cars before I crossed, I really didn't want to run into anyone this late at night. And then we crossed the Bogachiel River. I was thankful that Edgar had led me to a shallow patch of water where I could cross easily. I would have hated to swim to the other shore. I then started to hike up a mountainside but even after all that, Edgar kept going.

It seemed like hours before Edgar finally took a rest. And I, tired and out of breath from the uphill climb, sat myself down against a nearby tree. Edgar hopped over to me and cocked his head. Seemingly unaffected by the long track. I sent him a look.

Edgar hoped away from me and started to mess around at one of the roots of the tree, apparently cleaning it from dead leaves and dirt. I closed my eyes and sighed again as I leaned my head back against the soft moss covered bark. I heard the leaves rustle more violently with the wind and for a moment I wondered if the weather was picking up. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if it started raining again. I opened my heavy eyes. The trees reached a lot higher here but they also seemed to cover less of the night sky, allowing more light to shine through. The roots of the trees around here were leveled above the ground and slithered off in all directions; they were, like the rest of the forest floor, covered in moss. There weren't as many shrubs in this area, which in a way, I was thankful for as it allowed my pants to dry up a bit. Though on the other hand, considering the possible danger of this little outing, it also left me feeling quite exposed. The thin mist had thickened out a bit and I vainly tried to coax myself into believing that it covered me plenty, but I knew that in a worst case scenario it really wouldn't do me any good.

"_Look."_

I reflexively looked down at Edgar and a second later realized what he commanded, my eyes followed the direction of his beak and landed down in a slope a couple of meters away.

There was nothing there.

With an eyebrow raised, I looked back at Edgar, wanting to question him. But he paid me no mind, and kept his gaze stubbornly fixed on the exact same spot. Signing, I glanced back down into the slope and helplessly waited for something, anything to happen.

The wind had picked up again and the leaves rustled loudly in the trees above. The mist moved just a bit faster through the valley, almost as if it were performing some sort of dance. I was, for a moment, hypnotized by the delicate waves and swirls, it took me a second to notice the shadow coming down from the other end of the slope. Moving around frantically, erratically, as it came down.

I stiffened at the sight of it and pressed myself closer to the tree. Whatever the thing was, it was _huge_! Feeling panic course through my veins, I glanced down at Edgar but he hadn't moved a muscle. I took it as an example, even though I wanted nothing more than to run from the thing. It was then I noticed the heavy panting and snarls coming from the creature, it sounded familiar to me. I fixed my eyes back on the creature and narrowed my eyes in the hopes to try and make out more of it's shape.

'A _wolf_?' I guessed, though I was uncertain. Wolves weren't exactly uncommon in the national park but their packs usually kept to the North East, so nowhere near the town of Forks. This thing's anatomy didn't seem to fit with that of a regular wolf either. Its rib-cage bulk out and its legs and paws were strangely out of proportion.

The black creature circled around in the valley as if disorientated or maybe confused. I didn't dare to breath; I was so close to the creature. Why did it have to be so _big_? That wasn't a normal size for a wolf, was it? I really didn't know and at the moment I didn't much care either. I just wanted to get as far away from it as possibly. I couldn't though; I knew doing so would attract its attention.

The longer I got to observe the creature the more I became aware of its unnatural features. It didn't seem to be completely covered in thick black fur as I had first thought; some places had thinned out, allowing me to see patches of dark grayish skin. It made me aware that its skin stretch and pulled tightly with each step it took, it looked almost painfully. I also noticed that it had too many muscles in its upper legs, both front and back. It had a long black tail which thickened out at the end. The head of the creature resembled a wolf the most. It had a long snout and a mouth full of razor sharp fangs, all of which couldn't seem to be contained within its mouth and thus spilled out at the sides. Its ears were kept low against its thick neck. It hunched as it stalked around the valley, seemingly ready to pounce at any given moment.

I caught a glimpse of the creature's eyes as it passed by, they stood out; a pale gold and they seemed to glow ever so slightly. They vaguely reminded me of lanterns. They were wild; its pupils were basically slits as they shifting from one invisible enemy to another. It glanced over them once and my muscles locked with fear. But the creature didn't seem to be able to see us though, its glance quickly moved elsewhere.

Then suddenly the beast jerked its head, for the first time it actually seemed focused, as if it had finally decided on something and then took off like a bullet. It was out of sight within seconds.

I didn't move.

Even with the creature finally gone I didn't dare to move.

My breath picked up and started to become erratic. Adrenaline was coursing through me. I felt like running again, but I was stuck, leaning against the tree, petrified.

Edgar pecked at my sleeve. I could feel him. I swallowed heavily and forced myself to look away from the slope and down at Edgar.

He crowed softly at me. Calming, comforting.

"What was _that_ Edgar?" I asked quietly, as if fearing the creature might hear and return.

Edgar, of course, didn't answer. He beat his wings once and placed himself on my bend knee, then continued to crow sweetly at me. I signed so what dejectedly and started trailing my fingers over his feathers. I focused solemnly on him now. '_Just pet him_,' I told myself, '_keep your touch light_.' Edgar responded by nipping at my finger. I breathed in and out with long intervals. I was starting to calm down again.

* * *

**So that's the first chapter! **

**I tried my best to include items and other things that were common in the year 2003 (since that is the year in which this story starts). 'Eight legged freaks' is a movie from somewhere around that time and I have seem it myself _way_ back when. I believe that was actually the start of my ****arachnophobia, though watching the trailer now, it honestly seems so silly. ^-^**

**It might be a while before I publish the next chapter since I have other things to do (like school and getting my degree), but i'll do my best to keep updating! **

**I would love to know what you guys thought so please feel free to ****review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello strangers!**

**It's been awhile since I published my first chapter and now I finally get to do the second one!**

**I've received quite a few reviews on my first chapter and it was honestly the sweetest thing i have ever read. There were, however, a couple with questions in them and i'm unsure of how to handle these. So how about we do it like this, if you are okay with me reacting to your reviews in this *bold* introduction piece then please make sure to mention this in your review (if you prefer for me to use 'anonymous' instead of your profile name thingy then please mention this too).**

**Twilight belong the the author: Stephenie Meyer. Eight Legged Freaks belongs to Ellory Elkayem and ****Randy Kornfield (The movie was directed by Ellory Elkayem). Amelia Campbell and the other oc's in this story belong to me.**

**Enjoy the reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Perceiving the premonition.**

Eating lunch at a normally empty table, I listened with half an ear as Austin and Ben tag teamed in retelling me the plot of '_Eight Legged Freaks'_. From what I could gather, it was, as the three of us had already predicted, about a spider invasion slash apocalypse. The story wasn't all that great, according to the boys, but the special effects on the spiders were quite decent. The two of them had really taking to it for some reason and had been continuously quoted it to each other throughout lunch. They had also, quite demandingly, stated that I should go and see it for myself. Saying that it was _definitely_ worth wasting an hour or two for.

I had readily agreed with them at that point. Not necessarily because I wanted to see the spider movie, but more so because I felt out of the loop whenever the two of them started talk about it. And besides, I_ had_ promised my mom that I'd interact with some people over the weekend, so why not rent the video and invite the boys over to re-watch it?

"I'm pretty sure I'll have to house to myself, so you guys can just come over whenever." I assured them after taking another sip of my canteen. The brew which I poured this morning had become lukewarm and tasted terrible, but luckily it still did its job.

"Sound good!" Austin stated excitedly.

Ben, however, appeared indecisive, "I have a shift on Saturday from morning till five," He looked over at Austin and I, "And I still have homework for Monday…"

Austin's spirit deflated at that, "Ah, right. Mr. Molina assigned us those worksheets …"

"Those aren't that bad," I reassured him, "It only asks us to name basic parts of the plant and a few questions about the plant cells. Most of that you can easily copy from the book."

"Yeah well, the assignments are quite easy. But I think we're supposed to be learning how to operate the microscopes rather than what we were using them on." Ben interfered.

"Oh." I actually hadn't thought of that, "I might need to go by Biology later then."

"I'll come with," Austin stated after he finished off his slice of pizza, "I am pretty sure I'm not going to remember how to do it properly the next time around. Especially so if we're expected to do it on our own…"

"But to get back to watching to movie, I could come watch it either Saturday evening or somewhere on Sunday after I finish my homework." Ben clarified.

"If we do it on Sunday then we can just work on our homework together and watch it afterwards?" I suggested. "I personally wouldn't mind doing some extra revising on the three-age system for World History."

"Whatever for would you need to-" Austin's face quickly soured with realization, "He's planning a pop quiz, isn't he?"

I nodded solemnly. "I imagine somewhere next week."

Austin groaned and Ben snickered.

A little later, Austin and I left Ben to go to the Biology classroom. I was thankful that Austin decided to come along with me to talk to Mr. Molina. I wasn't all that comfortable with him just yet, or, well, with any of the other teachers for that matter. It usually took me awhile not to feel nervous with new people. I even felt uneasy around Mr. Mason and I _liked_ talking to him.

Austin and Ben tended to tease me for it, though all in good humor of course. They were used to me being normal around them, so they usually found it rather funny whenever I couldn't seem to get my words out around new people. But despite their teasing they always seemed to have my back and I appreciated them for it. Ben once told me that it was easier for them to do damage control if they were with me whenever I encountered new people. Austin had added that they'd rather go through that then catch the second-hand embarrassment which came from watching me trip all over myself trying to communicate normally with others. I vaguely remembered slapping the both of them at some point during that conversation.

On the walk to Biology, Austin told me of the row he had with his little brother the night before. Apparently Lucas hadn't liked the fact that his older brother had watched the scary spider movie without him.

I sympathized with Lucas rather than Austin, personally knowing the hardships that the youngest sibling goes through. I gently told Austin to reconcile with Lucas and to try and hang out with his brother a bit more. Austin had grumbled moodily as a response, obviously not liking me picking his brother's side over his.

We found Mr. Molina in his classroom, already preparing for the next class. He explained, after our inquiry, that he prepared a worksheet on the workings of the microscope for next week's lessons and that we needn't have worried.

Satisfied with that knowledge, Austin and I split to go to our separate classrooms. I went to the next door building, building number three, and walked past the other language classrooms to English Literature.

I was ready for this day to be _over_. Spending the entire night stalking the woods had drained me as it usually did and the fact that I still had a full day of classes to go to _after _all that didn't improve my mood either. I hated having to go to school after an all-nighter. I wasn't even really looking forward to English Literature,_ that's_ how done I was with today and I still needed to go to _Calculus_ afterwards.

I simply couldn't fit enough of my brother's special coffee mix in my canteen to last me that long.

Entering the English Literature classroom, I greeted Mr. Mason behind the teacher's desk and went to hang my parka with the others. I slumped down in my seat and took out my pencil case and notebook, even though I knew very well that I wasn't going to be using them to take notes.

I hadn't been able to focus in any of my classes today and to be completely honest; I had long since given up on even trying for the last two.

My mind was still very much in the woods.

Edgar had led me back to Forks after the encounter. We didn't come across anything else and for that I had been grateful. With the twitchy state I was in, it probably wouldn't have been good… Seeing the creature had shaken me up more than I honestly cared to admit. It brought up memories I didn't care to revisit. Seeing the beast had left me feeling vulnerable and ill at ease walking through the woods. I kept scanning my surroundings for any sign of it and every moving shadow caused me to second guess myself.

Edgar had been unusually considerate of me on the track home. He kept in sight and close to the ground; he never flew more than a few meters ahead of me. He'd even stopped to perch on a branch or rock so I could catch up to him.

His actions eased me immensely and before we went our separate ways, I'd given him a peck on the head to show my appreciation.

Edgar's behavior from earlier that evening had been peculiar to me too. He hadn't been frantic, even though he did insist on hurrying me to the place of the encounter. And while there, he hadn't been _at all _bothered to hide himself from the beast in the slope. He stood in clear sight of it, unmoved, as if there wasn't a ferocious creature with fangs the size of my fingers right in front of him.

Then something clicked in my mind.

Edgar and I had merely been _observing _the creature.

He wanted to make me aware of the creature being here. That it exists, and was near me.

But what did _that_ mean for _me_? That I should be more careful on my nightly hikes? That I should set up more safety measurements? Strengthen my defenses? Should I worry about the safety of the town folk? Wait_, was_ the creature even dangerous? I thought about that for a moment. It had certainly_ looked_ dangerous. But that didn't necessarily need to mean anything, did it..? What if _it _needed help? A recalling of the creature's ashen skin, stretching and pulling over its muscle tissue and bones, was brought back to the front of my mind. I grimaced. It had moved around like it was in pain. As if the smallest movement caused the creature a fresh wave of agony.

I mindlessly started doodling then; a general shape of the creature. I couldn't seem to recall it quite as clearly as I had first thought. I was convinced its horrid features had permanently branded themselves on the insides of my eyelids but when I started sketching, I just couldn't seem to get the image right.

Once more I wondered what kind of creature it was.

The first label that my mind brought up was '_werewolf'_. But that didn't sound right. Or maybe it was simply too easy, _too obvious_, to sound plausible. Could it be true? But then weren't werewolves only supposed to become wolf-ish on nights of the full moon? Or was that something that people made up? Or maybe the facts got altered somewhere over the ages? That wouldn't surprise me, to be honest.

But even still then, every myth and story held _some_ hints of the truth.

The bell ran, pulling me from my internal mulling. I looked down at the messy sketches in my notebook and frowned, none of them were even close. I huffed in annoyance and slammed the notebook shut.

During Calculus the impossible happened. I actually managed to stay awake for the entire hour. I don't believe I had ever felt as accomplished in my life as I did at the end of that class. Granted, I didn't understand much of the subject matter but that was another story entirely. I was quite lucky in that aspect that I had a study thing planned with Austin and Ben. They were usually able to explain math in a way that made sense. I smiled to myself.

I spend most of the remaining of Friday in my room. Scanning through the old volumes on my bookcase in search of wolf related myths and legends. And when the home source ran dry, I moved over to my laptop and continued my search on the internet. The sketches that I made during English Literature had found their way into a special folder for safe keeping. They weren't anywhere near perfect, no, but for now they were an acceptable reminder of the creature intricate features.

Aaron returned home at some point during the night and had come upstairs to greet me. I imagined it would have weirded him out a bit, seeing me sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor completely encased by piles of books. But to his credit, he only stated that I took homework _way_ too seriously, and then left with a laugh.

I let out a mirthlessly laugh myself and tiredly looked over the insanity that was my research. I had collected an abundance of loose information from all kinds of different sources and properly dropped anything that I found of significance onto my carpet. It was slowly occurring to me that I probably should've started off by thinking of a way to keep it all organized. Frustrated, I glared at the paper in my hands, though the anger was more directed at myself then at the printout.

I let the paper slip from my hands and closed my eyes. I breathed in as much air as I could, held it, and then released it. I looked over at the tiny digital clock in the corner of my laptop screen.

'_One-nineteen…_' I groaned, realizing I had been awake for well over forty hours.

I roughly rubbed my eyes to get the sleep out of them and moved from my crossed legged position on the floor to stand up. My legs ached, as did my back. I stretched my arms out and then settled my eyes back on the chaos surrounding me. I groaned again. Knowing that I'd have to clean it all up before going to bed.

I bend over and started collecting all the loose printouts in no particular order. Once I had them all together in a neat little stack, I hide them in an old binder and placed it in the box with the folder in which I kept the sketches. I took a deck of yellow post-its from my desk and used those as bookmarks for the books that were opened up at promising pages. Surprisingly only eleven books of my entire collection held useful information on wolves. I placed the disregarded books, the once that didn't have anything useful in them, back on their spots in my bookcase. I filled the empty space on one of those shelves with the remaining eleven books for easier access later on. I draped the dark cover cloth back over the books and neatly arranged the sides, then filled up the space in front of those rows with my other books. I didn't bother to place those in any kind of order; I'd probably have to take them out again anyway. I took a step back and looked over my work. '_It would do._' I nodded to myself.

I walked over to my laptop and sat down in my desk chair. I saved up any documents that were left open and placed them in a new map, which I, for the time being, named '_Research W'_. Then, with an air of finality, I turned off the power of my laptop.

At last, my bedroom looked the way it did _before_ I made it into a disaster area.

I huffed, then leaned back into my desk chair and let my head hang over the ridge. '_I should really go to bed._' I told myself and lulled my head over so that I could look over at the inviting piece of furniture. My glance shifted to my cell phone on the nightstand and I signed. Getting up from my seat I took a hold of my old Nokia.

'_one-forty seven… _'

I stood there for a while, just staring at the screen.

'_one-forty eight…'_

'_one-forty nine…'_

I noticed that my teeth felt hairy.

'_Always brush your teeth._' I automatically recited to myself.

I wasn't sure who I was reciting.

'_Probably mom._' I thought as an afterthought.

I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, I mindlessly stared at my reflection as I did so. I looked terrible. My hair was in disarray, my skin was pasty and I had noticeable bags under my eyes. The fact that I was still wearing the dirty clothes of today didn't help either.

I frowned. That wasn't completely right. No, they were the same dirty clothes from _yesterday._

I groaned.

I had forgotten that I hadn't gotten the opportunity to clean myself off this morning. Since I had gotten home somewhere after six a.m. and barely had any time left to grab my things before going to school. Looking back at it, I probably should've taken a shower instead of making Aaron's special brew. But dang it, I _needed_ it.

Signing in defeat, I started to take of my clothes for a quick shower.

Half hour later, I tiredly settled my exhausted body onto my bed and pulled the sheets all the way up to my nose.

* * *

_Every sharp intake of cold air stung as I desperately took in what I needed to keep running._

_They were closing in._

_I could hear the endless sea of leaves rustling above me whilst the high winds howled them to life. I ran as fast as I could down the slope, taking care not to trip over the raised tree roots or slippery moss. But I stumbled anyway and for one horror filled second I believed I had fallen to my demise._

_I didn't stop moving, I couldn't stop moving._

_I hurriedly clawed my way back onto my feet. I absently felt the wet earth sticking to my hands and clothes but paid it no further mind. In the distance, I could hear the heavy footsteps starting to catch up. _

_The forest began to thicken around me and I didn't recognize anything of my surroundings. Where was I? I forced as much of the bushes out of my path as I could but I couldn't keep all of the branches from snapping back painfully against my skin as I ran past. I felt them ripping my clothes to shreds as they tore into my flesh._

_I chocked on my breath as I cried out in pain and terror. Hot tears started to spill over._

_I had to escape!_

_The mad snarls were getting louder. They were closing in._

_Run! Hide!_

_All I saw in front of me was a thick cloak of leaves and mist._

_Nowhere was safe._

_I ran wild as the pale lights chased me down._

* * *

I woke up to the annoying blaring of my alarm clock. Rain was coming down heavily onto the roof and tapped annoyingly on my window. I shut off the alarm and rolled over, fully intending to go back to sleep, but sleep evaded me. I irritably threw my blankets off of my body and shivered as the cold air assaulted my skin. My eyes snapped open. My bed was soaked, as were my pajamas.

I was absolutely mortified for all but a second, and then came to the realization that I had sweat like crazy during the night.

'_Just sweat…_'

I signed, feeling like an idiot.

I took a deep breath. Today was not starting off good. Grimacing, because I felt gross and sticky. I hopped out of bed and quickly slipped into the bathroom to rinse myself off. Once done, I went back into my room, and don myself in fitting jeans, an old t-shirt of my brother and a dark blue flannel shirt. I then went up into the attic to see if the washing machine was being used. Upon seeing that it wasn't, I went down again and collected my beddings and pajamas to get them washed.

I heard my cell phone plinking from my pocket on the slow climb up into the attic. I ignored it for the moment as I first made sure that I had both feet on stable ground, only then did I take it out of my jeans. Ben had texted me, asking me how early he and Austin could come over tomorrow.

I went over the planning for tomorrow. Mom and dad would probably like us to attend church as a family, so that meant that I would already be up and out the door by eight-forty five. The service itself always starts at nine and usually didn't take much longer than an hour. So… Having done the mental math, I texted back that the both of them were welcome around ten-thirty. Which should still give me enough time to get back home and change into my regular clothes. As a second though I send a familiar text to Austin to keep him up to date.

Heading down the two stairs, I immediately took notice of the scent of something frying. I followed the sent into the kitchen and found Aaron at the stove. Baking heaps of eggs and bacon while wearing nothing but his baggy star wars pajama pants and an off white sleeveless undershirt. He hissed with each spat of grease that hit his bare arms. Idiot. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him; this was a familiar sight for a Saturday morning.

"Oh yeah, you're here again." I noted dryly as I walked into the kitchen.

Aaron snorted and turned to look at me. "Good to know you missed me!"

I smiled and went to hug his side, Aaron in response let go of the frying pan and wrapped his free arm around me. I squeezed him tighter.

"I missed you." I said sweetly.

"Uh huh, sure." He replied dryly.

I let him go and moved to the cabinet with the plates so I could start making my own breakfast.

"You want any eggs?" He asked.

"No thanks, I'd rather just have a sandwich." I replied, "How is college?"

"It's alright. Some classes are interesting, most are boring. Nothing new there."

I nodded, showing that I was listening as I smeared my bread.

Aaron didn't seemed too bothered by the fact that I wasn't even looking at him, "There are even a few kids from last year's senior year going to the same college; kids from whom I hadn't thought would be going to college_ at all_."

"Because their families can't pay for it?" I asked delicately. There were quite a few families in Forks who had issues keeping their finances stable and for those families it tended to be quite a sore spot to talk about. Nobody liked to admit that they couldn't support themselves or their families. It used to be like that in our family too. Back in Crooks my Dad couldn't seem to hold a job for longer than a month or two and if it wasn't for mom bringing in the money, we probably would have lost our car trying to keep out of dept. Our neighbors helped a lot to keep that from happening, allowing us to have dinner with them and by offering us all sorts of help. But we only ever took them up on little things. That way we would still able to reciprocate by doing chores for them and such.

"Nah, they're just dumb."

I laughed and went to sit at the dinner table with my breakfast, "and who are these kids exactly?"

"Eh," Aaron eyes trailed up to ceiling as if it helped him to recall their names better, "Andy Ross, Mary Coleman, Chris Jenkins-"

"Oh, hold up. Chris Jenkins, as in Nic's ex boyfriend, the_ jerk_ Chris Jenkins?" I inquired in mild disbelieve.

"Yup." He popped the 'p', sounding like he found the entire situation as plausible as I did.

"How the actual _fu_-" I cut myself off, "You know what. No. He going to quite before Christmas."

Aaron chuckled.

"And Mary will drop out after the first year." I went on. I remember a bit of Mary Coleman. Long black hair and a mole just below her jaw line. She used to sit behind the cash register at the local supermarket. I recalled her as optimistic and maybe sometimes a bit boastful, but she was nice enough. She always kind of struck me as the kind of person who'd skip town the moment she got the chance to. And by skipping town I meant to travel around and see the world. _Not_ go to college.

"Oh? You sure about that?" Aaron inclined slyly.

I easily picked up on his tone.

The corners of my lips pulled up and I hummed, "Uh huh, wanna bet?"

Grinning, he waved the spatula at me as if to hurry me on.

I grinned back, "Jerk Jenkins either gets kicked out or leaves himself by Christmas. Mary Coleman manages to complete a full year but quits right after. And Andy Ross… Er, his family manages the docks by Sol Duc River, right?"

"They like to think they do. His family has boats up there for rent." Aaron corrected offhandedly.

"Uh… he stays for the full four years?" I claimed though uncertain. I didn't know much of the Ross' family, I only heard from them through dad and Aaron since the two of them sometimes go fishing on that river. I didn't even know that their kids went to Forks high. Or well used to, until just now.

"HA!" Aaron laughed, "Andy Ross? No way! I'll give you fifty bucks if he manages _that_!"

Eh.

"Fine." I huffed, "I'll bet twenty for the rest."

"You got yourself a deal little sister."

I smiled. Already feeling like my morning had gotten lots better.

Over breakfast, Aaron told me he was going to hang out with his friend's at Ian's house. Apparently, Ian Moore bought the new '_Battlefield 1942'_ game and they all wanted to go try it out. I told him of my plans to go to the video store and afterwards the library. Aaron had perked up when I mentioned the spider movie and stated that he'd might stay home to watch it, though that would depend on when we'll start watching it. Seeing as he would still need to drive back to Port Angles tomorrow night.

* * *

"_Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.__By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh._ _By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."_

I wiggled my foot as discretely as I possibly could. It had fallen asleep somewhere at the halfway mark of today's service and I simply couldn't stand the pins and needles anymore. Mom subtly squeezed my hand to signal me to stop, I did so disgruntledly.

I sat next to her and Nicole in the pew while my dad sat on the other side of mom and Aaron next to him. We sat in the midst of the regular church going crowd. Listening tenaciously as Pastor Weber preached through some passages in the bible. I think he said it was '_Hebrews_' something or another? I'm sure he was using it to build up to some clever point or maybe even an inspirational statement. But I didn't much care to pay attention his words.

I had never seen much use in going to church on Sunday mornings. I have actually never seen much in church at all. But seeing as it was important to my parents, I still prudently complied each week.

Dad, unlike mom, had grown up in Crooks, where pretty much every single person was part of the church abiding community. To him it came natural to have faith in the Lord and to lean on thee neighbors, although only to a certain extend. He loved the familiarity of tight knitted communities like these. It was one of the reasons why he insisted on living in Forks rather than up in Port Angeles, even though living in Port Angeles would have saved him an hour drive to and fro his work.

Mom had grown up in Sioux Falls, also in a religious household like dad, but the big city communities that she felt had offered less to her. She said that _because_ there were always new people showing their faces, that that made it hard for her to find the trust in others that she needed. She also told us that when she moved in with our dad and his parents in Crooks, that she felt overwhelmed by the kindness and sincerity of the neighbors and how easily she had fitted in with them there. Moving here hadn't been easy for her but once she got to know the people of Forks and when she once again found that same kind of compassion that pulled her in at Crooks…

Well, she adjusted rather quickly.

"_But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him._ "

Somehow, I never had that kind of relationship with either the community or the believe.

I admit that part of that, mainly the lacking connection with the people part, was caused by my own foolish behavior. I should have tried to reach out more when I was younger. Should have given people the opportunity to get to know me or in the very least attempted to be more approachable... But now the thought of it alone made me feel deplorable. I had my chance, I've had _tons_. But I had abstained because I was childish and believed I was better off alone. And to be completely honest I still believed that, so I stubbornly stay with my decision to remain in my solitariness. Changing it now would only mean hurting the people around me and I didn't want that. And as for my lacking in connection to my church's faith...

I dully let my eyes glide over the large wooden cross hanging behind Pastor Weber.

'_Well it wasn't for any lack of trying on my part..._' I thought sourly.

"_By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. __By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went."_

I quietly signed again. Bored.

* * *

Sitting two teenagers and one _sort of_ adult in the back seat of our family car had become quite a tight fit. Luckily nowadays, it only ever seemed necessary when we went to church. My family owned three cars in total and it would soon be four now that Nicole was taking her driving lessons.

I had always thought that each of us owning a personal car had to be a bit overkill, but Nicole had reasoned that we wouldn't all be able to drive around with the family car like we used to do back in Crooks because we all needed to be in different places at the same time. Which, yeah, I admitted, made sense. But it still made me feel weird to see all those cars parked in front of our house. It somehow disrupted the image in a way that I didn't like.

"Matt, Richard and I are going over to Steven's house to help him repair the support post in his shed. There's a decent split in it so we'll have to exchange it for another. I'll probably stay there for the game too since Steven's buying use drinks; we're planning to extend our stay and milk him out of his money!" Dad laughed at the prospects of his evening.

I saw mom roll her eyes at him, "Just get home in time to say goodbye to your son."

Dad huffed, "It's not like I wouldn't see him over the course of the week."

"No need to hurry your plans dad, I'll probably still be home till later tonight." Aaron assured him with a pat on the shoulder, "Amelia rented a movie so I'm planning to watch it with her and her boyfriends."

"Best friends" I corrected automatically and sent a mild glare Aaron's way.

"Oh, I thought Austin rented the movie?" mom inquired, sending me a questioning look in the rear-view mirror.

"He did but he had to return it last Friday." I shrugged, "They watch it on Thursday but since I couldn't watch it back then they agreed to watch it for the second time today, I'm pretty sure they don't mind."

"Which movie?" Nicole asked and almost sounded interested.

"'_Eight Legged Freaks'_ it's about a spider invasion." I sent her an apologetic look, "I don't think you'll like it…"

"No, I think not." Nicole shuddered then asked, "How come you're watching it? I thought you hated bugs?"

"They won't be there physically so I'll be fine." I answered her as casually as I possibly could. Aaron was making his 'thinking of mischief' face in the corner of my eye and I really didn't want to encourage him to do whatever it was he was planning. If it involved bugs it couldn't be good.

"What will you be doing today, Nicole?" Mom asked, "Cheer things only happened on Saturday right?"

"Unless we happen to have a competition on Sunday." She explained with more excitement then she had shown the entire morning, "I actually got invited to a little get together at Emma Young's house this afternoon, it's something like a 'welcome to the team' party."

"There won't be any boys, right?" Mom demanded with a raise of her brow.

"How come Amelia gets to hang out with boys all day, yet you always forbid me from going anywhere near them?!" Nicole demanded defensively and shot me an aggravated look.

I sent a frown right back at her. I hated it went she used my friendship with Austin and Ben as a means to justify her actions with the other boys her age. They weren't like that and I wasn't like her. I liked Austin and Ben well enough but I wasn't in love with either of them, and I was pretty sure neither of them were into me _like that _either. They were just two sweet idiot boys that made me their friend back in middle school because they liked the Spider-man T-shirt I was wearing. They were kind of like brothers that I actually got to pick out for myself, no blood relation necessary.

I breathed out through my nose, still looking daggers at Nicole. I wished they'd stop assuming that I'll eventually end up with one of them. At this point it was just getting annoying.

"Because I know your sister wouldn't do anything stupid with those boys." Mom replied sternly.

'_She's means sex._' I unnecessarily translated to myself.

"And you didn't answer my question." She went on.

Nicole crossed her arms and deflated into her seat, not looking at anyone. "No, I don't think there will be boys there."

"Good." She nodded stiffly.

The car was silent then.

I look out of the window to avoid having to deal with the uncomfortable tension that my sister created. I wished I had my mp3 with me but mom didn't allow us to bring our electronics with us to church anymore. Which was, now I think of it, also originally Nicole's fault and yet we all paid the price for it…

There was nothing outside to look at. The rain coming down the window made everything outside bleed into unrecognizable shapes of color. To entertain myself, I slightly started to move my head about to look at them from different angles.

* * *

"_Brad, slow down!"_

"_I thought you loved me?"_

"_I do, I do! But I just…"_

"_But what?"_

"_I just… I just don't want to lose my virginity in the front seat of a truck."_

"_Well why didn't you say so? I have a blanket in the back."_

"What an ass." I heard Ben comment from my right and I mindlessly nodded my agreement.

We had finished up our homework about an hour ago and started on 'Eight Legged Freaks' once Aaron was allowed to join us. When we got home from Church mom had dragged him up into the attic to show him how the washing machine and dryer worked. She had already been in a bad mood because of her argument with Nicole in the car and once she got an eyeful of the dirty clothes that Aaron had dumped in the laundry basket, she had been more than a little cross.

It had been a bit funny for my perspective, seeing Aaron being pulled up the stairs by his ear, but it also left the house in a tense atmosphere which I didn't want to test by probing it. I made my way up to my room and preformed my actions as quietly as I could.

Ben and Austin's arrival cleared the strained air quite well. They didn't seem to take notice of any of it as they rushed pasted me and up the stairs, whooping dispassionately about getting the homework done as they went. I had laughed then and quickly followed after them.

"… _I'm warning you okay?"_

"_Well I can't help it; you just bring out the beast in me!"_

"Oh! You're gonna love this part, Ames!" Austin suddenly proclaimed. And then the girl in the movie tasered the guy in the dick. A startled laugh escaped me, not having expected that to happen and the guys hollered along.

"Oh god, I want one!" I laughed.

"Who would you even use it on? It's not like you'd ever be in a situation like… you know." Aaron said referring to the previous make out scene with a wave at the television screen. He looked all to nonchalant doing it from his propped up seat on the faded lazy boy.

I send him irked look, "There are _plenty_ of weirdo's in the world." I argued in an 'as a matter of fact' kind of voice.

He didn't respond to that and simply kept his eyes fixed on the screen.

I huffed.

"You should probably get one though…" Ben muttered.

"Shhhh! This is the best part!" Austin hushed us right as the scene started to play out. I had to agree with him, watching enormous spiders chase bikers around in the Arizona dessert was kinda cool.

"I'm definitely getting a motorbike once I get of age!" Austin proclaimed excitedly, "They're so cool!"

Ben snorted, "What, _in Forks_? That's like death on wheels."

Austin waved him off, "I'll ride it on sunny days-."

"So _never_ then?" I laughed.

"You guys suck!" Austin exclaimed and threw popcorn at the both of us. I managed to cover most of myself with a pillow but Ben wasn't as lucky, I laughed again as he yelped and aggressively flicked a couple back at Austin. I snatched the bowl of popcorn away from their grabby little hands when I noticed that their mock fight was quickly escalating. "Guys, come on! I'm the one cleaning this up!"

"_Yeah, you are~."_ Aaron snickered as he reached over to me and grabbed himself a handful of popcorn, I send him a scornful look as I watched the kernels slipping from between his fingers and ending up covering the floor. Aaron smiled innocently up at me, a bit too widely, as he settled his gaze back on the movie.

_Absolute assha-_

I narrowed my eyes at him, and then gradually placed the bowl back where it was before its content became ammunition.

"I'm _just saying_-" Austin started his defense and motioned to the television screen on which a biker was practically flying over a road. "that it would be cool to be able to do tricks like _that_."

"I don't think Forks offers lessons that will teach you stuff quite like _that_…" Ben told him.

"Okay then, maybe not Forks… But what about _Port Angeles_?" Austin shot a hopeful look over at my brother, "Heard anything of that, Aaron?"

"Sorry, no." Aaron didn't even bother to take his eyes from the screen as he crushed my friend's dreams, "To teach that kind of stuff they'll probably need like a dirt track, ya know? Like one that isn't surrounded by _trees_ and has all sorts of ramps and stuff… You could check around Carlsborg or Sequim? They might have something like that there."

Austin groaned out his misery and sunk into the couch. I reached awkwardly around Ben and gave him a few pats on the shoulder in a pathetic attempt to offer some comfort. Austin shrugged my hand off with another groan.

"Maybe you could ask one of the Cullen's about it?" Ben suggested then and Austin's gaze immediately shot up and zeroed in on Ben. "Wha-? _Why_ would I do _that_?" Austin demanded in baffled shock.

Ben seemed startled by the sudden intensity of Austin's expression and sent me a helpless look. A look which I return with a raised eyebrow as I silently urged him to go on and explain himself. What was he looking at me for anyway? It wasn't like I knew why he brought them up.

"I- They jus-" Ben stumbled for a bit, "I-I mean, one of them rides a bike _right_? At least, I think one of them does… A week or two ago, I saw this cyclist going past us on the one-oh-one with this sleek black _thing _that I'm convinced came from the future.._. _Honestly, I don't even know what brand it was..."

"Okay… but that could have just as well been some other guy passing through town?" Austin countered, "Besides even _if _it was a Cullen, it isn't like I could just walk up to them and ask-"

"Why not? They're just some other kids in high school right?" Aaron asked, clearly not understanding the full weight of what he just suggested. All three of us gave him an incredulous look, "_What?"_ he asked.

"People don't really…" I let myself trail off, not quite sure of how to explain it to him.

"Who_ are_ the Cullen's anyway?" Aaron continued and Austin and Ben all but gasped.

"Who-?!" "The-?!" Both started at the same time, then for a second they shared a glance with each other and then neither seem to know whether to look at my brother or at me for an explanation. "What do you mean_ 'Who are the Cullen's'?! _Have you been living under a rock?!" Austin eventually exclaimed in shock.

"No? In Port Angeles? You know, _where I live now_?" Aaron retorted, sounding more annoyed by the second.

"That's still no excuse; mom and Nicole have been going absolutely crazy about them since they got here! Dr. Cullen and his wife bought land somewhere on the outskirts of town and moved in with _five_ kids. All of them adopted." I easily repeated what I had unwillingly been forced to listen to for the past month or so.

"They're _loaded_." Ben went on, "They all drive around in these expensive cars and only ever seem to wear brand clothes. _That's_ actually why I assumed the cyclist was a Cullen. I'm pretty sure they're the richest folk in all of Washington, if not _the states_. Who else would have the money to drive a motorcycle like _that_ around in these parts?"

"They're also _ridiculously_ attractive, like, _all of them_. it's not oven funny." Austin huffed out as he took a sip from his coke, "There's this rumour going around that they all got surgery done at some point... Though isn't doing that on children illegal or something?"

"With parental permission it's probably okay in some places…Though to be honest, I don't think any of them went under the knife. They don't look _fake_, you know?" I told him with a confidence that I hoped sounded sure enough to convince him. I heard that particularly nasty rumour being told before and just the things some people _claimed_ to know about that family… It made me feel oddly defensive over them. I never even met any of them in person before, yet I felt more than a little bit uncomfortable whenever people badmouthed them.

"You say that, but I'd be lying if I said that I couldn't see Dr. Cullen doing a toothpaste commercial or something." Austin shrugged. "The Cullen's just have that… _feeling _about them, you know? Like they're _pretty_ but in an unsettling kind of way…"

"_Wait,_ was the blonde from this morning a Cullen?" Aaron asked, suddenly looking far more interested in our conversation. He glanced over at me. "There was this bombshell sitting all the way in the back during the service this morning. Did you see her?"

"That was Rosalie Hale and yeah she's with the Cullen's. Mrs. Cullen is her aunt or something like that. "I sent my brother a pointed look, "Mrs. Cullen was also their today, as were the rest of the family."

"Uh, really? Didn't really notice."Aaron grinned cheekily.

"No surprise there." Austin snickered.

"_Stop please..."_ I moaned out in annoyance.

"Awww, don't be sad little sister." Aaron chortled, "I'm sure there's someone out there thinking the same things about _you._"

"Well,_ that's_ off-putting." I pulled my nose up at him. Wondering to myself why _anyone_ would want people to think about them like _that_.

From the corner of my eye I could see Ben giving me a look which I couldn't quite distinguish between discomfort and something apologetic. I frowned as I felt the familiar heat of embarrassment creeping up into my cheeks. I pointedly ignored Aaron as he kept laughing and pulled my legs up to my chest to fold further into myself. Hopefully the couch could swallow me up if I made myself small enough.

"You might want to give up on that one though; I'm pretty sure Rosalie's already taken." Austin informed Aaron after my brother stopped laughing at me.

Aaron sighed, "Because of course a girl like _her_ is already taken…"

"You mean Emmett, right?" Ben inquired so what uncomfortably, "Are they really together though? I mean, aren't they like brother and sister or-? "

"_What?"_ Aaron interrupted him, sounding righteously appalled.

"Maybe they were already dating before they all got adopted? That's sort of less weird, right? I mean, it's definitely _weird_, but if they were already together then they couldn't really help it..?" I offered carefully like I had done before to Nicole, though I already knew it wouldn't help much to save the Cullen family from further prejudice here in Forks. It was the curse of small towns, I believed. People around here just weren't as open to alternative concepts or generally things they simply weren't familiar with… So it was to be expected that this quickly became the most talked about rumour going around town since _ever_. I wasn't sure what to think of it honestly, mainly because it just wasn't any of my business what went on in that family. But I guess it was a bit… odd even if they weren't necessarily related by blood. But then again, if the main argument for it was that '_Technically _what they're doing isn't incest.', then there probably wasn't something quite right there…

"_What."_ Aaron repeated himself. Still sounding highly confused and disturbed.

"There is this other rumour going around that four of the five Cullen kids are dating each other. Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen are supposedly together and Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen." Ben cleared up for my brother, looking very uncomfortable with the topic himself. He looked over at Austin and me, "You guys actually think their dating though? I mean, yeah, they hang off on each other a lot but isn't that just what siblings are like?"

Austin and I had, without practice needed, perfectly synchronized the incredulous look we sent Ben.

""_No!"" _Was our combined and absolute answer to that. Was he mad? Did Ben actually believe that I was _like that_ with either Aaron or Nicole? I felt something turn in my stomach and a terrible shiver ran up my spine at the mere thought of it. Honesty dude, _gross_.

"_Definitely not_." I stressed at Ben.

"You have _no idea_ how siblings work, do you?" Austin deadpanned at the boy.

"_Alright, Sorry_! And _no_ I'm an only child, you know that." Ben quickly backtracked on himself.

"They're_ definitely_ dating. And yeah, Ames-" Austin glanced over at me, "I guess if that were the case then it would be more understandable but that doesn't mean it isn't any less weird for them to be dating now!"

I threw up my palms, "I just saying that people around here like to exaggerate on these things. I just meant that, just because some people told us that Dr. Cullen is attempting to breed the next evolutionary step for mankind, doesn't immediately mean that it's the truth."

Ben snorted in amusement. "I hadn't heard that one yet!"

"I like the one where they are on the run from the mafia and are here in hiding. Supposedly all of them got plastic surgery because their old faces were already memorized by the henchmen." Austin snickered.

"You mean they're _in hiding_?" I laughed and shook my head at him, "They're not exactly inconspicuous! They don't blend in around here _at all_. Honestly, they'd have better luck in Seattle."

"Yeah, they could probably do a better job at that… Like maybe they shouldn't flaunt their money around if they wanted to settle in more. I mean, they would probably be a lot less impressive if they actually dressed like the other teenagers around Forks."

"I honestly can't imagine _any of them_ wearing something that isn't beige or high fashion…" Austin squinted at the ceiling, looking very much like he was trying to conjure the imagine in his mind.

"Okay, _so_ what I get from all of this is that they're all stinkin' rich and unnecessarily fashionable weirdo's with slightly incestuous tendencies. _Geez_, I can see why you'd feel uncomfortable talking with them…" Aaron concluded dryly for himself.

"That isn't all. Like I said before, there is something… _unsettling_ about them." Austin pointed out and then turned to Ben and I. "You guys noticed that too right? Like every time they're around, it's like…"

"…You mean that they're intimidating?" Ben unsurely offered his thoughts about it, "But it's not just because they seem to have a higher social standing?"

"Yeah, exactly. They are_ off_ somehow and it's honestly kinda scary in a way but I don't know why that is?" Austin struggled to explain, frustrated with himself for not being able to explain the feeling better. Ben however seemed to understand what his friend meant and nodded his agreement.

Amelia nodded too, silently showing her own agreement but didn't bother to elaborate on the topic herself. Instead, she watched her brother from the corner of her eyes and couldn't help but snicker at the confused look he was sending the three of them.

"Oh _that_ clears it all up." He muttered and then turned his attention back to the television screen. "Can we please just get back to watching the movie? If I wanted to hear about the rumours going around here in town then I wouldn't have moved out in the first place…"

_Oh yeah. We were watching a movie…_ "Can we play it back a bit? I think we missed quite a bit just now…" I asked hopefully.

"Nah. The spiders are invading, that's pretty much it. The story picks up again when the night falls." Austin waved me off and from next to me I could hear Ben muttering something about spoilers.

* * *

After the movie ended, an excitable Ben and Austin bid me goodnight and ran on home. Leaving me to clean up the mess they'd made together in the living room. Aaron had snuck off too when I walked the other two to the door and stubbornly refused to come back downstairs to give me a hand to clean it all up. He said it was because he still needed to collect all of his clothes from the drying rack before he drove back to Port Angles but I knew well enough that that didn't take much longer than ten minutes at best.

Austin had been quite annoying at the end of the night too. He was apparently staying over at Ben's tonight since they wanted to make head way on a project of theirs. A secret project which they never really bothered to elaborate on, except for Austin who like to give me very cryptic remarks on it every now and then. It was only because they actually promised to eventually include me that I stopped asking them about it.

Admittedly I didn't like the fact that I was being left out by two people which I considered my closest friends. But they weren't doing it to be mean to her, I was able to tell that much. And to be completely honest, at first I didn't even believe that they even_ had _a project or whatever going on. I thought it was just something that Austin liked to dangle in front of me with slyly sliding it into our conversations. So mainly I just thought it was just another thing for him to tease her with.

It was Ben who made me reconsider my first believe on this though. Ben's honest nature was both admirable and inexorable. The boy just couldn't lie to save his life_ nor_ was he any good at keeping secrets. He tended to abruptly change the subject and avoid eye-contact whenever he tried to do either. I used to think that it was honestly quite funny but now I just thought of it as incredibly frustrating.

So my best friends were keeping something from me, that in itself wasn't something I liked but then again they _had_ promised to tell me eventually. And those boys had yet to break any promises made to me without a good reason too. _So _I so what unwillingly resigned myself to wait till they were both ready to share their thing with me. That, _however_, didn't mean that I couldn't pester them about it some more though.

I huffed to myself in amusement as I continued to finger through my box of folders. It was still Sunday, though earlier I read on my cell phone that it was nearing the following day.

I wanted to go to sleep, _I really wanted to go to sleep_, but before I could do that I just needed to add on to one of my folders. I had been waited for somebody, someone else than myself, to mention it. And now, thanks to Ben and Austin, I was actually able to confirm one of my estimations.

It was admittedly a bit difficult to find the correct folder though, seeing as the folders themselves were all the same colour and texture. Not to mention that they were paper thin and didn't exactly have any room on the sides to note their content name on. So I was forced to manually pull each one out separately to properly read the descriptions on the front. It was time consuming and I absently gave myself the task to find something to organize them better with, seeing as just throwing them all together in a box in no particular order wasn't quite working for me.

Then just as I was about to scold myself some more for having something so important _this _disorganized, I pulled up the folder that I was looking for. An accomplished grin pulled up my lips as I read '_The Curious Case of the Cullen Family'_ written neatly in my own small handwriting on the front.

* * *

**And that's the second chapter!**

**It might be a while before I publish the next chapter again, since I have other things to do (like school and getting my degree). I'll do my best to keep on updating!**

**BTW: Can somebody please laugh with me about the fact that it's Scarlett Johansson (A.k.a. Black Widow) who played the girl whom tasered the pushy guy in the dick in that scene from Eight Legged Freaks! I literally just realized that when I re-watched the scene!**

**And again, I would love to know what you guys thought so please feel free to review! (don't forget to mention it if you want me to react to your reviews in my next introduction)**


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